Tying the Knot
by ThuhJesheekuh
Summary: Mainly OC, but several familiar characters. If you like my work Tome of Lineage or Kearra's Children of the Gods, this story is for you. Selphie timetraveler and Kage former Sheikan god finally decide to get married. For the fluffalites in us all.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, just so everyone knows and doesn't freak out and say, "Augh! You've ruined Tome of Lineage with your spoilers! Curse you, Selphie Louise!" this story will not in any way interfere with my masterpiece, Tome of Lineage. Previously, this would have been a spoiler to said story, but I've decided to change it due to a recent falling out with my partner in crime, Kearra. Her well-received story, Children of the Gods, was originally meant as introduction to these characters so that these stories (that I wrote over a year ago...) would not confuse people greatly. But because of this recent falling out, we have both changed the aimsof our stories. As such, a brief overview of what happened before this story is in order, since Children of the Gods can no longer serve that purpose (although many, if not all of these characters have been introduced in Children of the Gods).

When this story was written, the story went thus: Selphie did not in fact stay in her home time period in Ikana, but returned with Link, Yugi, and their twins, Mable and Raven. In order to understand the opening of this chapter, it is important to know that Mable is an outspoken energy ball and Ravenis quiet and clingy. Kage had built a house for Selphie and they both lived their together for about one or two years, enduring several events and becoming increasingly closer. Iggy and Jiji (the Garos in training, if you'll recall) quit the ninja clan and moved to Hyrule with their friends. The characterRavick (whose debut thisstory is becauseKearra was too mean/lazy towork him into Children of the Gods) is thecaptain of the Hylian knights and a fairly powerful mage. He's kind of dopey, but that's why we love him (and he thinks Din is some hot stuff!)! The rest should be explained in this (and subsequent... -shifty eyes->.>) story.

Din: Hey!

Nayru: You're posting a Zelda story-

Farore: And we're not in the author's notes!

Selphie Louise: Oh, no...

Tingle: Hey! What's going on here? -looks around- Ooh! She's writing another Zelda story!

Darunia: No, fool. If you were listening, you'd know she wrote this over a year ago! -looks at Selphie Louise and grins- Hi, honey!

Selphie Louise: -weakly- Hey... I guess that means you'll be doing the-.

Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

Selphie Louise: Can they read now, please?

(BTW: I just realized that when I upload this document, a lot of spaces are lost so that words and sentences run together. Bear with me folks, as an editor of the school paper, it drives me _insane_!)

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Chapter 1

_The Temple of Time looked especially beautiful today. The sun was floating down through the windows making the hall brighter than usual, although other than that it looked the same as always. All that made it more lovely on this particular day was the blessed event that was about to take place. _

A man in white robes stood behind the altar, his face hidden by the hood. Kage stood at the altar where the three Spiritual Stones were placed. His usual dark kimono was replaced by a light blue one. He looked ready to burst out of his skin he was so happy. Link and Iggy stood next to him in clean light blue tunics, seemingly bemused at Kage's excitement. Yugi and Jiji stood on the other side in light blue dresses. They heard a snicker of laughter coming from the end of the hall and turned to see Raven and Mable.

"Dad! Look at me!" Raven called excitedly. He also looked incredibly excited, carrying a small white pillow with two rings on it. "I'm the ring bearer!" He was ready to run down the hall to his parents and Uncle Kage, but Mable tugged at the sleeve of his tunic nervously. She was wearing a new dress and holding a small basket with white flowers in it, apparently the flower girl. She timidly walked down the hall with her brother, dropping flowers here and there. When they reached the altar, she stood near her mom to avoid being seen so much while Raven stood next to his dad, but trying to stand out as much as possible.

Kage's smile lessened a bit at the twins' behavior. Something didn't seem quite right about it. But his grin quickly returned as he realized who was standing in the doorway at the end of the hall. There was Darunia, the one who would give her away, and Selphie, the one he would be giving away.

Kage felt extremely nervous now that she was here. As if she wasn't beautiful enough before, today she was gorgeous. He knew Yugi and Jiji had spent hours dressing her up like a doll. Selphie wore a beautiful white gown, and her face was hidden under the gauzy veil perched upon her head. She and Darunia walked slowly to the altar, Darunia whispering to Selphie.

"Don't forget. If you hurt him or make him do anything he doesn't want to, I will snap you in half," he said.

"Finally a direct threat," Selphie answered nonchalantly.

"Yes, this is a direct threat. No more glares, leers, spying or anything. I'm warning you straight out: don't do anything I'll make you regret," Darunia replied. They couldn't see through the veil but Selphie was rolling her eyes.

They finally reached the altar. "Selphie, you look beautiful," Link said to her, smiling.

"Thank you, Link. You, however, look your same hideous self," Selphie answered in a saccharine voice. Link continued smiling as though he had not been insulted. Kage looked at Selphie confusedly.

"Enough with the compliments," Yugi said cheerfully. "This is a wedding! Let's do some get hitching!"

As she said this, a hard knot dropped into the pit of Kage's stomach and he suddenly felt like something bad was happening. He looked down at Mable hiding behind her mom and nearly screamed at what he saw in her basket: instead of small white flowers were large black insects of various kinds. Her dress suddenly turned blood red as she stepped out from behind Yugi.

"I was a bad flower girl… they took away my flowers…" the little girl said in a hollow sort of voice, looking up slowly and ashamedly at her uncle. Kage turned away repulsed and saw Raven standing behind him grinning.

"Yeah, she was bad," he said sticking his tongue out at Mable, which seemed only to make her feel more ashamed. "I was a good ring bearer," he thrust out the pillow. "So they gave me these instead of the dumb old rings," he said as his tunic also turned blood red. Kage recoiled at the sight. Instead of the two gold wedding bands were two actual fingers.

"What's going on here?" Kage demanded of everyone around him.

"Why, you're getting married, Kage, dear," Jiji said with an inhumanly large grin.

"Now hush so the priest can do his job," Iggy said, taking Kage by the shoulders and turning him to face the man in white robes as Selphie stepped up to join him.

"Wait a second," Kage said as the priest took a large book and opened it. "I don't remember anything about a priest, or even being in the Temple of Time… Who the hell are you?"

"Hush, boy," the priest said in an all too familiar voice. "You're getting married!" He shouted as he pulled the hood back to reveal himself: Ganondorf!

"No!" Kage screamed stepping back. "Selphie! Run! Don't let him hurt you!"

"Run? Hurt me?" Selphie repeated in a pleasantly quizzical manner. "Why, Kage, he won't hurt me. He wants to help us."

Kage grimaced and looked away as he lifted Selphie's veil. When he looked back, he didn't bother to hold in his scream. Behind Selphie's veil was a redead. "Now is that any way to treat the woman you love?" it asked. Kage backed away from it.

"Now you've done it," Darunia leered at the redead. "I can snap her in two any time you want, Kage!" Kage just looked at them horrorstruck and backed into the altar behind him, falling to the red carpeted floor.

"She's your wife, y'know," Navi said floating down next to his head.

"No. I won't go through with it. I still haven't said 'I do!'" Kage protested.

"I do!" the redead cried.

"Works for me!" Ganondorf exclaimed, shutting the huge book with a snap. "You may now kiss the bride!"

"NO!" Kage shouted as the redead started to move slowly in towards him.

"Kage and Selphie, sitting in a tree!" Raven sang.

"NO!"

"Come on, Kage. Kiss your wife," Yugi and Link coaxed.

"NO!"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Raven crooned.

"NO!"

"You gave up your immortality for her and everything," Iggy and Jiji cajoled.

"NO!"

"I can break her in half any time you want," Darunia assured him.

"NO!"

"First comes love!"

"NO!"

"She's your wife now," Navi and Ganondorf said.

"NO!"

"Then comes marriage!"

"NO!"

"It's because I was a bad flower girl…" Mable said dejectedly.

"NO!"

"Give me a kiss, Kage," the redead said, now within inches of his face.

"Then comes something in the baby carriage!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Kage!"

"No!" Kage screamed.

"Kage, wake the hell up!" Link shouted, standing over his bed.

"Gah!" Kage exclaimed as he tossed himself right over the side of the bed and landed hard on the wooden floor of his bedroom. Link sighed, holding his temple in his hand as he shook his head at the tangled not of sheets, pillow, and Kage on the floor at his feet. Iggy stood nearby snickering. Kage managed to sit up and lean on the bed for support. "Ooh…" he groaned. He looked up at Link. "Aheh… I'm awake," he said sheepishly. Iggy burst out laughing. Kage glared at him and within two seconds time, Iggy was extinguishing his flaming rumpus.

"That never fails to get old with you, does it?" Iggy asked, finally putting out the flames.

"Nope," Kage said smirking. Link smirked as well.

"Enough fooling around," he said. "Get dressed! It's a big day!" he instructed, pointing to a set of clothes laid out on a chair. It was a pale blue kimono similar to the one Kage had just worn in his dream. "Hurry up! We haven't got all day!" He and Iggy left the room, Iggy laughing one more time at Kage before closing the door.

Kage looked at the kimono anxiously. He'd forgotten why he'd had that dream and all the ones like it in recent weeks. He stood up from the floor and sat on the bed, planting his face in his hands and pushing the hair out of his face. Why hadn't he thought about this three weeks ago when he'd asked Selphie to marry him? He should've know about this anxiety back when he knelt down in front of her in the Sacred Forest Meadow.

He looked out his window and saw the forest surrounding their home and smiled as he thought about that day. Kage had suggested simply that they take a walk, a common enough experience. They'd wandered through the Lost Woods until they found that most sacred of meadows. She'd been so calm and peaceful; she enjoyed just being out there in the woods. He remembered she ambled over to the stump beside the Forest Temple and sat down.

That's when he walked over. He simply stood in front of her, not doing anything. She looked up at him and asked what was up. Then he knelt down in front of her- the surprised look on her face very clear in his memory- and said, "Daisuki, Selphie. I love you so very much, and I know you love me… and we've known each other for four years now… so…" He'd produced a ring from his pocket. It had a fairy light embedded in the gem. She'd gasped when she saw it. "So…please… will you marry me?"

He remembered how she stared at the ring for a minute and how he thought she would say no. But then she smiled, threw her arms about his neck, kissed him, and said yes. He'd slipped the ring onto her left ring finger and kissed her again.

Kage sighed again from his place on the bed and rubbed his head. If only he'd given it more time, maybe he wouldn't feel so… so…

"Kage! Come on! You're gonna end up being late!" Iggy called through the door.

"Hold your horses, fire-butt!" Kage called back, snapping out of his reverie. "I'm gettin' there!"

"Hey! Don't kill the messenger!" Iggy answered. "Link's the one who's complainin'! Plus, don't forget. Darunia's down there too! You _know_ you don't wanna get _him_ mad!" Kage heard Iggy clomp down the stairs. He sighed, getting up from the bed and walking over to the chair with the clothes, watching them for a minute as though debating whether to actually put them on or not. His hand finally made the decision to pick them up when he jumped.

"Kage, get your groom-ass down here!" Darunia hollered up the stairs. That got Kage going. He scrambled into the kimono, put on the shoes as he hopped toward the door, and finally nearly tripped down the stairs.

"Nice entrance," Iggy teased as Link looked up from scolding Darunia for saying the "a" word in front of Raven, who was quietly sitting at the kitchen table, watching in silent bemusement at Daddy scolding Uncle Daru, who could have easily snapped him in two. Kage shuddered slightly at seeing the little boy in the same light blue tunic he'd been wearing in his dream. He would have roasted Iggy again if he didn't know he'd get in trouble for ruining Iggy's clothes for the wedding.

"Whatever…" he sufficed with saying. "I'm here now, so you guys can stop harassing me."

"Harassing you?" Darunia repeated. "It's _your_ wedding day. We're trying to help you actually get the job done!"

"I didn't know you actually wanted me to get the job done," Kage said quietly, smirking.

Darunia leered at him. "All I want is for Selphie to be happy, and if marrying you makes her happy," he paused to shake his head as though not believing it. "Then I'm gonna make sure she marries you."

"Yeah, yeah," Kage said, starting to get himself a glass of water.

"What do you think you're doing?" Iggy asked, taking the glass away.

"I was gonna get myself a little something to eat," Kage answered, about to take the glass back.

"Eat?" Darunia repeated. "Oh, you're not eating, my friend," he said grabbing Kage around the middle and hoisting him across his shoulder, carrying him toward the door, Iggy, Link and Raven following. "You are going to your wedding."

"I can walk myself, y'know!"


	2. Chapter 2

Because I just want to get this up and because I wrote it so long ago, proper notes are difficult, I'm just going to repeat the disclaimer each chapter from here out.

Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

Me: Now read!

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Chapter 2

"Selphie, you look so pretty!" Jiji said.

"Aunt Selphie's not a bit pretty. She's beautiful!" Mable said grinning.

"My friend, you are drop dead gorgeous, and by drop dead, I mean Kage is going to drop dead when he sees how beautiful you look!" Yugi added excitedly.

"If Darunia has his way anyway…" Selphie said quietly, smiling.

The four of them were in the guest bedroom of Yugi and Link's house. Yugi and Jiji had spent the whole morning getting Selphie ready for the big day, and Mable had "helped." Selphie now wore a white gown. It wasn't extravagant, but it still gave off the feeling of being elegant. They'd fixed her long brown hair so that it now looked delicately wavy and had several pieces pulled back. "Kage had better be feeling very lucky to be marrying you," Jiji said.

"I feel more lucky marrying him," Selphie answered with a hint of nervousness in her voice. She fiddled with the ring on her finger, thinking about when Kage proposed. He'd seemed so nervous; she thought he'd take it back. But when she said yes, she knew he meant it. She loved him so much, but she was still so scared. However, Kage seemed so sure of this that she couldn't back down. That didn't make her feel any less nervous.

She'd even had a couple of weird dreams where Kage disappeared. She didn't share this with anyone, for fear that they would make something of it. The slightest hint that Kage might leave her would probably set them off, Darunia quicker than anyone. They were all so very protective of her. She felt special for it, but it also bugged her very much, and she knew Kage was petrified of what would happen if he hurt her, though she knew he never would.

"Selphie?" Jiji repeated. "Selphie!"

"Huh? What?" Selphie exclaimed, waking up to reality once more. Mable giggled at Auntie Selphie spacing out. Selphie gave her a playful little leer before smiling at her. "Sorry, I spaced," she said to Jiji. Jiji shook her head with a smile.

"We were saying it was time to go," Yugi said, grinning at her soon to be sister-in-law.

"Oh! Right!" Selphie said. She walked over to the dresser and picked up the veil, placing it on her head. She smiled as she saw herself in the mirror through the gauze. Then she took a deep breath, turned around and faced them once more. "I'm ready!" The other two women grinned at her and Mable continued to giggle excitedly, twirling her new blue dress about her.

They each grabbed her by the arm and walked her down the stairs and out the front door. Kage and Selphie were going to exchange vows out on the center island of Lake Hylia. She, Yugi, Jiji, and Mable were walking toward the scientist's laboratory so they could cross the bridges out to the island, where the boys had probably already warped with Link's ocarina. When they were almost to the bridge, Yugi happened to look down at her daughter. "Oh, Mable…" she said with exasperation.

Mable looked confused for a moment and then cried, "Oops!" as she realized she'd forgotten her basket of flowers back at the house. "I'll go back and get them right now," she said turning around.

"Mable, you can't go alone!" Yugi said.

"I'll go with her, Yugi," Selphie offered, gathering her dress about her and taking Mable by the hand and letting the little girl pull her toward the house.

"Come on, Aunt Selphie!" Mable squealed.

"Selphie, be careful of the dress!" Jiji called.

"Don't worry!" Selphie called back over her shoulder, running along with Mable. When they got about halfway, they slowed to a walk.

"Aunt Selphie?" Mable asked.

"Yeah, Mable?" Selphie answered, looking down at her.

"Do you and Uncle Kage really love each other, like Mommy and Daddy love each other?" Mable asked. Selphie smiled at the little girl's innocence.

"Yes, Mable, we really love each other," Selphie answered.

"Uncle Kage's really lucky to be marrying someone as pretty as you," Mable said. Selphie smiled once again at Mable's naiveté. They reached the house, and Mable ran upstairs and brought back down her basket of flowers. As Selphie closed the door behind them, Mable said, "I'll never be as pretty as you and Mommy. No on will want to marry me."

"Oh, Mable," Selphie said, kneeling down to the girl's level. "You are a very pretty little girl, and when you grow up, I'll bet you'll be even prettier than me and your Mommy combined. And even so, looks aren't everything. Your Uncle Kage loves me for more than that."

"Yeah, you're really nice too," Mable said, looking up at Aunt Selphie. "And you know lots of stuff."

"Yeah," Selphie agreed. She picked Mable up and hugged her. "Don't you worry about that at all," she said, holding her close. "I'm sure you'll have to beat the boys off with a stick. And if they don't want anything to do with you, you just come tell your Auntie Selphie and she'll set 'em straight." She winked at Mable and set her down again. Mable grinned.

"Yeah," Mable said as she took Selphie's hand again and started walking. She went silent, screwing up her face in thought. "But by then, won't you have your own daughter to worry about?"

"Aheh," Selphie laughed uneasily, rubbing the back of her head embarrassedly as they continued walking. When they reached Yugi and Jiji, Yugi could guess from the look on Selphie's face that Mable had said something awkward. She winked at Selphie, who again smiled ineptly. "We better get going if I don't want to be late for my own wedding.

"We better," Jiji agreed.

The four of them continued their walk out to the lake. When they got to the first island, they found Darunia and Raven, who was holding the white pillow with the rings, waiting for Selphie and Mable. When Darunia saw Selphie, he looked like he wanted to cry. Selphie smiled at him and Raven looked up at Uncle Daru curiously. "Doesn't Aunt Selphie look pretty, Uncle Daru?" Mable asked as Yugi and Jiji crossed the bridge to the main center island.

"She most certainly does," Darunia answered, flicking a tear away from his eye as he put one arm around Selphie in an embrace. She smiled up at him.

"It's not like I'm leaving," she whispered to him.

"I know, but I still feel worried for you," he answered.

"Why is Uncle Daru worried for you, Aunt Selphie?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, Uncle Kage's gonna take real good care of her!" Mable chimed in. Selphie looked up at Darunia with a smirk on her face.

"He's not gonna do anything," she assured him as she stepped away. "He's too afraid of you." Darunia looked proud of himself. Selphie looked at him seriously. "That wasn't exactly a compliment." He looked very slightly ashamed, but happened to look across the lake to the island where the nuptials would take place.

"Time to go," he winked at Mable and Raven. Mable was about to skip across the bridge when Raven tugged on the hem of her dress and she slowed down, but still tossing flowers all over the place. When Selphie and Darunia saw that the children had crossed, they started walking across the bridge. Darunia was muttering something to himself repeatedly- something on the lines of "Don't look down." Selphie shook her head and smiled. They were at the end of the bridge.

The two stepped onto the island where everyone else was standing. Link and Iggy were standing to the left of the warp platform, Raven trying to hide behind his daddy, all three wearing light blue tunics. On the other side of the platform were Yugi and Jiji, with Mable trying to stand out, all wearing light blue dresses. Kage was standing up on the platform looking extremely fidgety.

"_She's so perfect_," he thought. He stood nervously watching as she stepped up onto the platform and Darunia took his place beside Iggy. Link coaxed Raven forward, up onto the platform. Raven stepped up and stood between the bride and groom holding the pillow out. Kage and Selphie each reached out and took the rings- _thank Din they're rings_, Kage thought- and Raven hastened off the platform to hide again.

Selphie looked up through the veil into Kage's eyes. Kage couldn't see through the gauze, but he could tell she was smiling at him, and waiting for him to hold his hand out for her to put the ring on and say her vows… but he didn't. He stood there for a minute, sweating and looking down at the ring in her finger. The others there watched him curiously. The smile faded slowly from Selphie's face.

"Kage…?" she said nervously.

"Selphie… I…" he trailed off. Suddenly he disappeared from sight. A small _tink_ came from the ground as the ring he had been holding fell. A few seconds later, Selphie fell to her knees beside it. She didn't say anything.

"Selphie?" Yugi asked, walking up and placing a tentative hand on the girl's shoulder, but Selphie jerked away, burying her face in her hands and starting to cry. Everyone backed away to give her some space. At this point, Darunia's eyes were as fiery as the temple he guarded. The other adults present also seemed to have a similar anger.

"Kage! Your ass is mine!" Darunia bellowed.

"Not in front of the children, Darunia!"


	3. Chapter 3

Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

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Chapter 3

"I can't do this…" Kage whispered. After disappearing from the wedding, he'd gone to the Sacred Forest Meadow. He sat down and leaned against the stump, holding his forehead in his hands. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…" he said a few minutes later, hitting himself in the forehead. He took a deep breath and looked around.

"Is something the matter?" Kage jumped slightly. The voice had come from behind him. He turned around and jumped yet again. Sitting on the stump was Selphie, wearing her regular clothes. "What's the matter? You seem so nervous," she said worriedly kneeling down to where he was. She reached out her hand to touch his cheek.

Kage closed his eyes. "Selphie… I…" he trailed off waiting for her touch. He opened his eyes and sighed. She wasn't there. It had been an illusion. "I deserve it, I guess…" he said. He leaned back against the stump and closed his eyes.

_"It's so beautiful out today…" _

"Almost as beautiful as you…"

"Oh… Kage!" Kage felt Selphie's lips against his and opened his eyes. He was still in the Sacred Forest Meadow, but he was standing now, and Selphie was with him. The only difference was that they were on the other side of the hedge maze.

Kage walked with her into the hedges. They heard a spitting sound and Kage knocked back a deku nut at the deku scrub that had shot it. "My hero," Selphie said, hugging him tight. Kage smiled at her and offered his arm. She took it and he guided her safely through the maze. "You're such a gentleman…" she said.

He smiled again at her compliment, but had yet to say anything since the beautiful day comment. In fact, he looked a slight bit uneasy as they ascended the stairs to the Forest Temple. When they reached the courtyard, Selphie walked purposefully to her favorite seat on the stump. Kage looked increasingly nervous as he walked more slowly to the spot. However, he didn't sit down beside her like he usually did. Instead, he simply stood right in front of her and looked down at her nervously.

"Kage, is something wrong?" Selphie asked, looking up at him curiously. Her jade green eyes caught the sunlight and sparkled beautifully. He almost turned around and ran at that point, but something made him drop down on one knee. Selphie looked startled at this and looked down at him, her eyes no longer sparkling with sunlight, but wide with surprise.

Kage took her hand in his and kissed it once. "Selphie…" he said. Daisuki… I love you so very much… and I know you love me…" He kept talking but it was more like babbling and he didn't really hear what he was saying… "What AM I saying?" he thought. Finally he shook his head, remembering himself again and reached into his pocket. "What I mean to say… Selphie…"

"Oh, my gosh…" Selphie exclaimed when she saw it, her free hand flying to her mouth. Kage was holding a ring- a beautiful white gold ring with an opaque white gem. What really made it beautiful, though, was the tiny fairy light imbedded in the jewel, causing it to sparkle with an inner light.

"Will you marry me?"

"I dunno… don't you have someone else?"

_Snort._ "Gah!" Kage gasped as he opened his eyes again. "Er… who's there?" he called nervously, absolutely aware that whoever it was probably was in the process of hunting him down to make him sorry for running out on the wedding.

"Why, tis me, your good friend: Ravick," came the familiar voice of the mage. Ravick was hiding in the shadows but now popped up, looking down at the formerly sleeping Kage.

"Good…" Kage sighed in relief. They both were hit at the same moment. Ravick looked at Kage oddly as Kage stared off blankly. "Did I just say that…?"

"You must have something on your mind if you said that," Ravick said.

"Yeah…" Kage said distractedly, thinking again.

"Wanna talk about it?" Ravick offered.

Kage looked at him with an expression that screamed, "Think about what you just said.

"Okay, never mind then…" Ravick said, looking away.

"Yes, please," Kage said, standing up and starting to walk away.

"I'll bet anything he's up here!" Kage's eyes widened in fear.

"Hey, was that Darunia's voice?" Ravick asked. "Hey! Darunia!" he shouted in the direction of the sound.

"Ravick, no! You idiot!" Kage exclaimed, disappearing.

"Eh?" Ravick asked turning around, looking for Kage. But he was nowhere to be seen. "What the-?"

"There he-!" Darunia shouted reaching the top of the stairs.

"Aw, no. It's just Ravick," Iggy said starting to turn around again.

"Wait, maybe he's seen something," Link grabbed Iggy's arm and led them toward the mage. "Hey, Rav!" he called.

"How do you do, Link?" Ravick asked amiably, striding forward to meet them.

"Have you seen that little bastard, Kage, around here?" Darunia asked, looking around and cracking his knuckles.

Reading into this action, Ravick thought about it for a moment. "Uh… no, haven't seen him," he answered.

"Damn… I would'a bet anything he'd be here," Darunia said.

"Eh, give him a little more credit. He probably wouldn't head back to the place where he proposed to her. It's too obvious. We should've known better," Iggy said.

"Huh?" Ravick asked confusedly. "Proposed? To who? Selphie?"

"No, one of his other girlfriends-," Darunia said, then his eyes widened. "He better not-!"

"I don't think so," Link said touching Darunia's arm.

"Why are you guys looking for Kage anyway?" Ravick queried.

"Because he's still a bachelor when he was supposed to marry Selphie this morning!" Link replied angrily, thinking about it again causing the irritation to flare once again.

"You mean he ran out on his own wedding!" Ravick asked incredulously. "Why would he do that?"

"Don't know. Don't care," Iggy answered.

"But we're gonna find him and make sure he's sorry," Darunia said, moving his finger across his neck to mock slitting Kage's throat.

"Okay…" Ravick said understanding how big this was to them. "Well, I'll just let you guys get back to it then."

"You don't want to come help?" Link asked before Iggy inconspicuously stepped on his toe. "Er… I don't wanna force you into anything. See ya later, Rav."

The three avengers turned and left. When Ravick was sure they were gone, he turned around and whispered loudly, "Kage? Kage!"

"Gah!" Kage fell out of the tree he'd been hiding in. "Yeah, that was just great."

"Yes, very graceful indeed," Ravick said striding forward.

"I was talking about you, you idiot," Kage said. "You realize you almost let them catch me?"

"Really? I thought I just sent them off in the opposite direction," Ravick said smartly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, well…" Kage said, realizing he owed the mage big now. "Thanks for that much anyway…"

"You wanna tell me what's going on now?" Ravick asked.

"No."

Ravick cupped his hand over his mouth, "Oh, Dar-!" Kage leapt forward and covered Ravick's mouth before he could do anything. "Yeah, I figured that'd do it," he said smugly as Kage removed his hand disgustedly.

"Damn you…" Kage muttered. He sighed. "If you're going to make me talk can we at least do it somewhere safe?"

"Er, I just sent the guys off on a wild goose chase," Ravick said confusedly. "I don't think they're going to be coming back here any time soon."

"Them, maybe not," Kage agreed- wow, never expected that to happen. "But if those three are out looking for me, that can only mean they are too."

"Huh?"

"You may have sent the guys off, but the girls are a completely different story…" Kage elaborated.

"Ah," Ravick nodded his head in understanding. "Okay, where are we off to?"

"I think the mountain might be a safe bet," Kage said, walking tentatively toward the hedge maze.

"The mountain?" Ravick repeated skeptically.

"Yes."

"The mountain where Darunia lives?"

"_Yes_."

"Are you hearing what you're saying! It would be suicide to go there at a time like this!"

"Exactly."

"What?"

"The others are going to think that too, and you just heard them say that I'm smart enough not to go to the obvious places, which is why that is exactly what I'm going to do."

Ravick stared at him for a moment before following into the hedge maze. "I'm not sure what you just said, but it really didn't sound like you've changed your mind about going to the mountain."

"Don't cry, Aunt Selphie," Mable said putting her hand on Selphie's cheek like her mom did when she was sad. Selpie shook her head. The little girl just couldn't understand.

"Mable…" Raven said, pulling his sister away a little and shaking his head solemnly. "Aunt Selphie's sad cause Uncle Kage left."

I know that," Mable answered. "But when you or me are sad Mommy always talks nice to us and holds us close."

"I don't think that's going to work for Aunt Selphie," Raven said sadly.


	4. Chapter 4

Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

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Chapter 4

"Hey, I remember this spot," Ravick said when they'd reached Death Mountain Crater. The air around them was boiling hot and they were sweating slightly- but that may have been from the fact that they running for their dear lives. "This is where you almost killed me Zelda, Darunia, and Sheik and _did_ kill Link."

"Less talking, more levitating!" Kage ordered as they each levitated over the gap by the Great Fairy's Fountain to the other side of the crater, effectively shaking off the mob of angry Gorons. When they'd come through the short cut from the forest to Goron City, the Gorons had seen and attacked.

"A slight miscalculation on your part?" Ravick asked as they landed safely on the other side.

"Shut up!" Kage shouted over the yelling of the Gorons on the other side as he started to walk away. "How was I supposed to know they knew about the wedding?"

"My point exactly," Ravick said, following. Kage rolled his eyes as he quickened his pace. "Hey, wait up!" Ravick caught up to Kage and kept an even pace with him. "So, we're relatively safe from danger now. Care to answer my previous question?"

"No," Kage answered shortly, continuing to walk toward the exit. "Like you said, we're relatively safe now, so now I don't have to worry about you giving away my whereabouts."

"I could think of other ways to give away your whereabouts," Ravick said.

"And I suppose they all require the use of a spell?" Kage posed.

"Well, yeah," Ravick answered.

"How easy to you think that would be to remedy by simply removing your tongue?" Kage asked, smirking over his shoulder at the mage as they stepped out onto the mountain. The sun was nearing its zenith, so it was still late morning. Kage walked over to the edge of the cliff and let the wind hit him.

"You do still owe me one for saving you in the forest though," Ravick pointed out. Kage growled, realizing that- as much as he hated to admit it- Ravick was right.

"You're a pain in the ass. You know that, don't you?" Kage said in a low voice.

"I've heard it once or twice," Ravick answered. "But I'm a pain in the ass that save you back there. So… tell me what happened with this wedding."

Kage wanted to bite his tongue and refuse to tell the mage. But he could tell Ravick might prove dangerous if Kage didn't appease on at least this point. "Three weeks ago I took Selphie to the Sacred Forest Meados and proposed. This morning we were supposed to get married, but when I saw her I got cold feet and ran. End of story."

"_You_ got cold feet?" Ravick asked incredulously. "How could _you_ get cold feet?"

Kage remained silent, not looking at Ravick but continuing to stare out at the mountain. The truth was… hearing it said like that made him feel a bit ashamed. It made him sound like a coward. Maybe he was…

"You wouldn't understand…" He closed his eyes.

_"Hey… What'cha doin' up here?" Kage turned around to face the source of the sound. There was Selphie behind him, seeming troubled, but Kage didn't quite know who she was… because he was Yami. _

"I'm not sure I know you, young lady," he said, quite politely, one might add, "However, might I inquire as to what a fine young woman such as yourself is doing in a place such as this?" His gaze shifted to Jorge, who was climbing up the mountain, but quickly shifted back to Selphie.

Jorge slowed his pace as he heard the man speak. There was something strange about him but Jorge didn't leave the valley much so it could have been his imagination.

"Oh!" Selphie exclaimed. She also blushed at being called "a fine young woman." "I'm sorry... I thought you were someone else..." She backed away some. "I was just visiting the Gorons and was gonna leave... and... yeah..."

"Why don't you stay?" he asked, "I've been feeling lonely anyway... So let's invite more people." He traced a triforce in the air, and golden lines formed where his fingers traced. Then, he traced the Sheikain insignia in the center, and thrust his hand through the center. "Come, my sisters! Din! Farore! Nayru! Yugi!" Jorge stopped dead at the mention of the goddesses. Within an instant, Yugi appeared, looking rather shocked. She looked as though she'd just fallen out of bed.

"What do you mean your 'sisters?'" Selphie asked nervously as this happened. "Who are you?"

Din, Nayru, and Farore appeared half a second after Yugi and all looked equally startled.

"Who the hell do you thing you...are...?" She eyed the man.

Farore and Nayru exchanged glances but left the talking up to Din.

"My sisters, you mean to say you don't know me?" he asked with a grin, "I am Yami. How can you not remember me? I most certainly remember all of you." His expression suddenly grew dark. "Who could forget me?" he asked, "I'm not the kind of person one could forget."  
Yugi shook her head slowly. She fixed her clothes and rose to her feet. She swayed slightly, but kept her balance.

"Doesn't ring a bell," Selphie said coldly. She didn't trust this stranger who claimed to know them. "What do you mean in talking in riddles?" She turned to Yugi, "Do you know who this is?"

"I don't know," Yugi replied tiredly, shaking her head.

Din looked at Yami for a moment, "Sorry...We only have one brother."  
Farore gave Yugi a look, shook her head, and sighed. Nayru looked quite confused.

Jorge took a few steps forward and stood just behind Nayru and Farore who both gave him a sidways glance.

"Yugiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Navi was zooming up the mountain and stopped just above Yugi's head, "What happened? She stopped when she spotted the goddesses and then new guy, Yami.

Yami scowled. He suddenly extended his arm, summoning a sword of energy. "You mean this kid?" He snapped his fingers, and a ball of energy appeared. Inside was Kage, unconscious

"Kage!" Selphie cried out.

"He isn't our brother. I doubt by now that he's even alive. He's been like this all day." He sneered. "Maybe I should make it a definite..." he glanced at his sword, then looked back to Kage.

An anger swelled inside of Selphie. "Don't you hurt him!" She was about to grab this Yami character by the neck. But since she didn't know anything about him she sufficed with yanking out her boomerang. "What did you do to him?" she growled.

Yami merely shrugged. "I found him like this. He was barely breathing. And at any rate... you kill me... and he's lost. He's in another realm. And only I can retrieve him." He snapped his fingers again, and the energy ball vanished, and Kage with it.

He blinked and somehow Link and Ravick had shown up and he was once again holding Kage. He also had a cut across his face, and his shirt was stained with blood around his shoulder, as did the boy in his arms. Jorge had his sword drawn and aimed at Yami. Link shouted for him to stop. "What the hell?" Jorge gasped.

"I was afraid of this..." Yugi breathed, "Kage was so upset... first at my decision to be mortal, then Sheik's loss of memory... He must have created another personality without thinking... Now... Kage is..." She fell silent, reaching for Link's hand.

Yami sneered, "What the hell are you talking about!"

Link took her hands, "This is so not good. We can't hurt him with out hurting Kage..."

"If the woman speaks the truth, then the death of you would result in the death of the boy you carry. and Vise Versa." Jorge said calmly.

"Stop speaking nonsense," Yami snapped, "What the hell do you mean by any of that!"

Yugi narrowed her eyes. "He doesn't have any memories of being seperated from Kage... He refuses to believe that he is a mere creation of Kage's emotions..."

Selphie looked on the verge of tears. "I don't care what he is! Why are you doing this? What do you hope to accomplish in hurting these people? What do you have against them?"

"Yami, this might help you understand. You and my shadow are somewhat alike. Both are bound to their masters, and whatever wounds their master has, they have. My guess is, that Kage's negative feelings for Yugi, the goddesses and anyone else, were so intense at one point in time, they conjured up into a physical being. Much like a hateful Poe would do."

"... Shadow... I am no shadow... I am no copy... I. Am. Me. Nobody else!" He turned abruptly and jumped over the edge of the cliff, holding Kage tightly under one arm. "I'll show you exactly what I really am! I AM NO ONE'S CREATION!"

"Holy crap, Kage!" Kage had a moment of vertigo, eyes snapped open and realized he was falling off the cliff. "I gotcha!" Ravick exclaimed as he rushed voer and grabbed Kage away from the ledge. "Ha! Now you still owe me!" he said a second later.

"I could've levitated y'know!" Kage glared at him, upset that he was, once again, in debt to the mage.

"You _could_ have, but you didn't," Ravick pointed out. Kage really wanted to strangle Ravick at this point. He simply glared at him a moment longer before walking back to the cliff so that he could climb down the vines. However, when he looked over the edge for the skulltulas, his eyes widened in horror. "Oh, shit."

"What is it?" Ravick asked, walking over. He looked down and saw about fifty Gorons in an angry mob coming up Death Mountain Trail. "That can't be good," he said as Kage turned to try to run back into the volcano.

"Oh, shit."

"Good to see you too, bro," Yugi said as she appeared in the entrance to the mountain, Jiji with her, both still wearing their dresses.

"How'd you find me!" Kage asked panicked. "This should've been the perfect hiding place!"

"Your logic is missing one thing, dear," Yugi said saccharinely as she stalked up to him, Jiji right next to her.

"And that would be?" Kage asked nervously, backing away from the angry glint in their eyes.

"Hello? We had the Gorons keep watch for you," Jiji elucidated. "So, when you guys came in through that shortcut in the woods, they came and got us."

"I suppose I should have seen that coming…" Kage muttered, realizing the Gorons had done just that.

"Little late now, bro," Yugi said menacingly. "You ran out on your fiancée- _during the wedding I might add_!"

"You must have had a problem in your logic there too, since you clearly forgot about the nine people who're gonna have your ass on a platter for it!" Jiji shouted, lunging at him. Kage suddenly felt someone grab him beneath the arms and pull him into the air before Jiij could attack him. "The hell!" she exclaimed when her arms closed on nothing.

"It's Kaepora Gaebora!" Ravick announced, pointing up to the giant owl who was now carrying Kage off.

"Dammit! We almost had him!" Yugi shouted, kicking at the dirt.

"And what the hell were you doing!" Jiji rounded on Ravick.

"Er… Ah, I'd like a little help too!" Ravick shouted. Kaepora Gaebora swooped down and grabbed Ravick in his other talon. "Thanks!"

"Don't thank me. Thank him," Kaepora Gaebora said, indicating Kage. "He's the one that said to go back for you."

Ravick looked at Kage amazed. "Why, Kage, I didn't know you cared."

"I don't. But now I don't owe you anything," Kage smirked, clearly proud of himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

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Chapter 5

"Thanks, KG," Kage said, waving to the giant owl as Kaepora Gaebora took off from the field, where he had dropped Kage and Ravick.

"No problem!" Kaepora Gaebora answered, flapping his great wings and flying up into the sky.

When he was gone, Ravick looked over at Kage. "So, where are we heading next?" he asked.

"We?" Kage repeated, raising an eyebrow at the mage. "_We_ are not going anywhere. _I_ am going to continue hiding from the vengeful wedding goers. And hopefully, I can leave you out of it because from the experiences I've had in the last couple of hours, you were nothing but a hazard to my health."

"Hey! I saved your butt like two or three times back there!" Ravick responded indignantly.

"Even if you did, it was your fault I was in danger to begin with," Kage replied, starting to walk away.

"I still wanna know what the deal is with this wedding," Ravick said, hurrying to stop him. "I don't get how you could run out on Selphie. You guys've been in love for years, living together and everything. How could marriage even be any different?"

"It's none of your business, Ravick!" Kage shouted, turning to face the mage.

"I think someone's afraid of commitment," Ravick said slyly. Kage was so ready to hit Ravick. But then Ravick renewed the threat, "I can cast lightning anytime, y'know."

"And I could rip out your tongue before you finished the first word," Kage reminded him.

"I'll bet you'd tell me if I was Link," Ravick said poutingly.

"I wouldn't get a chance to tell you if you were Link," Kage said. "You'd've already killed me by now." He had been trying to shake off the mage this whole time and finally gave up, sitting down against one of the low stonewalls.

"True, but Selphie's my friend too. I could've killed you too, but I've chosen to give you a chance to explain yourself," Ravick said.

"You kill me?" Kage asked smirking. "Like that would happen. I doubt if you could even hurt me…" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

_"Please don't die," Selphie said, appearing out of nowhere next to Link. She kneeled down, her eyes sparkling with tears. "I'm not entirely sure why, but I know that if you die, it will hurt more than I can bear..." _

Yami laughed softly, opening his eyes, looking first to Link, then Selphie. "It's nice to know that you do care," he said with a smile, "After all I've done... I forgot who I really was... I forgot everything... I could only think of revenge... hatred..." He sat up, painfully, leaning forward with his hand on his chest. "I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you. I couldn't keep my emotions under control. Sucks to be a god sometimes."

"Heh," Selphie managed a small laugh. But then the tears in her eyes made their way trickling down her cheeks. "Kage," she cried as she flung her arms around his neck. "You're not allowed to die. What you've just done is nothing in comparison to if you died."

Kage was mildly surprised, but smiled, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I'm not going to die," he said, "Someone has to keep and eye on Yugi and Link, to make sure they stay in line."

Selphie smiled through her tears. She let go of him and looked at him for a moment, wiping tears out of her eyes. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she whispered.

"Of course, now that I'm not under the threat of the infamous light arrow," Kage said softly, "And now that I have my memories back, I'm not likely to be causing you guys any more trouble..."

Selphie nodded her head. "All of your memories?" Selphie repeated. She rubbed the back of her neck. "Um, does that, maybe, by any chance, mean you remember or figured out what that one certain emotion was?" she asked hopefully, giving him a small uncertain smile.

"I figured it out before," he replied, "I was just upset because I thought it wasn't my emotion, and that it wouldn't be returned, because I was Yami." He took her hand in his. "... Daisuki... Selphie."

Selphie couldn't help but smile. "Daisuki...Kage..." She gazed at him for a moment. "So, uh, what do we do now?" she asked uncertainly.

Kage shrugged, summoning a small knife in his hand. "Just one last thing for me to do before I'm completely back to normal." With one hand, he held the section of his hair that was white, which was pulled back. Then, with one quick motion, he cut his hair. The strands that were white vanished in an instant, while the rest of his hair fell to his shoulders, in its usual unkempt fashion.

"That's better," he sighed, banishing the knife, "So, what do you think?"

"Very handsome," she smiled. Selphie took his hand and gave it a little squeeze. "But the question still remains: what happens now?"

Yugi appeared behind Kage, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It means my brother has a girlfriend," Yugi said with a grin, "And has chosen the same path as me, which is to live as a mortal with the one he cares about." She smiled at Selphie. "If he tries anything," she said, grabbing Kage's ear and pulling hard, "Let me know." Kage thrashed, but was too weak to escape her grasp or to throw her off. Yugi just looked at him, her smile fading. "Next time you pull a stunt like that," she said, "I'll do worse." She let go of him.

"I'll keep him in line, Yugi," Selphie said. "Wait a second," she said suddenly. "Did you say he has to live as a mortal now?"

Yugi nodded. "Divine law," she said, "Any deity that actually falls in love with a mortal has to choose between being stripped of his or her divine status in order to live with said mortal for his or her lifetime, and living as a god, but forbidden to be with whomever he or she fell in love with. Link wasn't too happy with those options, but it was my decision. Kage had a right to choose. And I think he chose wisely."

"I..." she was at a loss for words. Selphie looked at Kage confused. "For me? Kage, how can you do that?" Selphie asked.

Kage's face burned, and he lowered his head so that his hair hid his face. "..."

"He loves you, Selphie, that's all there is to it," Yugi said, wrapping her arms around Kage again, but much gentler this time, "And I think he needs someone to be with. Sheik left Hyrule having lost his memories... and I'm living with Link. It's understandable why Kage's hatred took on a new manifestation. However, his soul took a new body, rather than making a new person entirely. I rather like the change." She smiled, pulling at his hair. "He's such a handsome young man."

Selphie's mouth curved into a smirk. "Hey, no hugging him," she said. She moved closer to Kage and put her arms around him. "That's my job."

Kage listened in silence, finally placing one hand on Selphie's arm. "Are you... all right with this?"

Selphie closed her eyes for a moment. She felt a tiny pang of guilt in the back of her head, but, "I'm very all right with this," she said, smiling as she opened her eyes again.

"Kage? Kage. Kagekagekagekagekagekagekagekage. Kage, are you asleep again?" Ravick was standing over Kage poking him in the shoulder each time he said Kage.

"I'M AWAKE!" Kage shouted, pushing Ravick away from him. "What the hell was that!"

"I thought you were going to sleep again. And we've seen what happens when you go to sleep," Ravick explained.

"You didn't have to poke me like that," Kage growled, scooting away. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'll return to my mind wandering."

"Nuh-uh!" Ravick answered following him. "I let you have your little nap-."

"I wasn't sleeping…"

"But now I want to know stuff! Why you run out on your wedding?"

"I told you. I got cold feet."

"No, no, no-no-no. I don't buy that. _You_ could not get cold feet just like that. You have a reason."

"I just got cold feet."

"Nope. You've got a reason. I'll bet you're afraid of something."

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"What is it? Is it commitment?"

"No-."

"Kissing?"

"I already-!"

"Or maybe it's the sex?"

"HELL NO!" Kage shouted jumping to his feet.

"THEN WHAT IS IT, KAGE? TELL ME WHAT IT IS!"

"I'M AFRAID I'M GONNA HURT HER, OKAY?" Kage shouted, punching the wall. The spot where he hit it crumbled upon impact. "I'VE BEEN NOTHING BUT TROUBLE FOR EVERYONE WHO'S EVER GOT CLOSE TO ME, AND I DON'T WANT IT TO BE THE SAME WAY THIS TIME!" He stood there breathing heavily for a moment.

Ravick stared at him. "What do you mean you've been nothing but trouble and hurt everyone?"

"Oh! Like you don't know!" Kage exclaimed throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You were there when I killed Link! You were there when I got Sheik turned into a little kid! And you were there when I almost killed myself on Death Mountain when I was Yami! Not to mention the fact that I almost let Ganondorf out the night I tried to banish myself and almost got Selphie banished with me when Shiori showed up! I cause nothing but hurt to everyone I get close to!"

"Wait up. I didn't know Selphie almost got banished when Shiori came after you?" Ravick said confusedly.

"Yeah… Selphie was with me here in Hyrule Field when Shiori appeared. She would've been okay, but she wouldn't leave me in danger," Kage said, closing his eyes again.


	6. Chapter 6

Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

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Chapter 6

"Bird! You're going down!" Link shouted as he and Darunia grabbed Kaepora Gaebora by the legs before he could fly off again. If it had just been Link Kaepora Gaebora would have been fine, but Darunia was just a wee bit too heavy.

"Gah!" the owl exclaimed as he was dragged down. "What did I do!"

"You helped Kage get away!" Yugi shouted. She, Link, Daru, Iggy, and Jiji were on a lower part of the mountain where they had caught Kaepora Gaebora.

"Well, you guys were about to attack him for no good reason," Kaepora Gaebora said sheepishly.

"No good reason?" Link repeated. "How do you know we didn't have a good reason?"

"Well, it's Kage!" Kaepora Gaebora said. "He wouldn't harm a fly! The worst he's done to make you guys mad was the time he left Selphie to watch Mable and Raven because he didn't want to give them Cucco Pox."

"Heh. Do you want to know our good reason?" Din asked, she and her sisters having also been recruited into the manhunt. She waggled her finger beckoning him nearer. When he was close enough she took a deep breath and shouted, "HE RAN OUT ON HIS AND SELPHIE'S WEDDING!"

"He's out in the field," Kaepora Gaebora said immediately.

"Let's go!" Din said as she and her sisters disappeared for the field.

"Good idea," Darunia added, curling into a ball and rolling down the mountain. Everyone else started running to keep up.

_Kage lay in the field, his hands tucked behind his head, his eyes closed. He hadn't had a chance to rest in a while. He closed his eyes, dwindling on the edge of sleep. _

"Falling asleep in the middle of the day?" Selphie walked up. "I'm thinking no," she said as she nudged him lightly in the ribs with her foot before sitting down next to him. "Why are you out here all alone?" she asked. "I know someone who would gladly have kept you company."

Kage opened one eye, smiling as he watched her sit down beside him. "I haven't had the chance to relax in millenia," he replied, stretching, "Once Hyrule was created, I had to protect the Sheikah. Being a Deity is a stressful job, believe it or not. But now, I am living my life as a mortal and thus have much more time to relax. I have you to thank for that." He closed his eyes again. "As for me being alone, I guess I'm just used to being alone," he said, his smile fading. He opened his eyes, staring up at the sky above. "I am the youngest of my siblings, so I was often left behind in everything. Once we went our separate ways in order to maintain order in Hyrule, I was more alone than ever. But, as always, I got used to it. Eventually, I liked it that way. That's why I chose the form of a dragon, so any who came near me would be intimidated, and would flee."

He sighed. "At any rate, that would be why I have problems understanding emotions, and why I tend to say things without thinking how others will feel. I never had the chance to socialize with anybody..." He fell silent, biting his lip.

"Poor Kage," Selphie said sympathetically, but more in a way that was trying to lighten the mood. "Well, it seems to me that you'll be having plenty of time to socialize from now on. And as for your being alone all the time..." she laid down with her head on his stomach. "Not if I can help it."

Kage smiled, placing his hand on her cheek. "I'm glad," he said softly, "Daisuki, Selphie." He caressed her cheek gently, staring up at the sky. The air was getting gradually colder.

She smiled. "Daisuki, Kage." Selphie closed her eyes and blocked out everything. All she could feel was his hand on her cheek... and the air getting colder. She shivered a little.

Kage frowned, but didn't shift. He placed his hand on Selphie's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "...You may want to get out of here..." he said softly, "...Something's happening... I don't like the feel of it..."

"Hmm?" Selphie sat up. "What do you mean? What's going on?" She paused for a moment, looking around.

Kage sat up as well. "I don't know... It feels vaguely familiar... But..." He bit his lip. Could it be...? He hoped not. He'd had enough stress on his mind as it was.

"Kage..." Selphie was unsure of what was going on. "Is it something bad? You know I'm not gonna leave you if there's something dangerous going on. Especially not now that you're mortal," she said attempting a weak smile.

Kage was about to speak when, all of a sudden, the sky went dark. A force field appeared around them, nearly three miles in diameter, trapping them inside. A brilliant light appeared in the sky. Kage stared at it in silence, his eyes widening.

"Kage, what's going on?" Selphie asked. She slipped one hand in his and wrapped the other around her boomerang.

The light descended, and once it was approximately ten feet above the ground, it took the form of a woman garbed in black. She touched down, and they had a clear view of her face. Her hair was unkempt, a mix of grey, white and silver. There was a scarf over her left eye, and in her hand was a scroll. Kage's eyes widened in fear. "AH! YOU!"

Selphie turned her head to look at Kage, cocking an eyebrow. She had never seen Kage show fear so plainly. "I take it you know who she is?" she asked. "Care to make the introductions? Or is she bad and I should just, you know?"

"Nice to see you, too, Seiryu," the woman sneered, "It's nice to know that you turned me down for a mortal."

Kage backed away. "Ah, um... Selphie... This is... Shiori... The Goddess of Judgement..."

"And I used to be his fiancee. But he kept running away and hiding." She sneered, looking as though she wanted to hit Kage.

Kage looked like he had swallowed his own tongue. He crawled backwards, but chains appeared on his wrists, pulling him forward. "...!"

"I'm here on official business, Seiryu," Shiori said darkly, glowering at him, "I gave up chasing you centuries ago. You have to face your punishment like a man, or do you still think of yourself as a boy that you would take on such a form to try to back out of it?" Kage flushed. "I know your tricks, Seiryu. I'm not as dull-witted as you'd think."

"His name is Kage," Selphie said almost equally as darkly as she joined Kage at his side. "Time out, right now. Someone needs to explain this to me. What's going on?" Selphie asked. "What is she talking about with the punishment and crap? And what are these chains about?" she asked tugging on one a little.

"I would advise you not interfere, girl," Shiori sneered, "'Kage' here has broken quite a number of the Divine Laws. He's certainly made quite a mess, and caused us a lot of trouble. Now, it is my job to punish him for his crimes. The chains..." The chains suddenly jerked forward with such force that Kage felt like his arms were about to be pulled out of their sockets. "...are used to keep the offenders from fleeing. They are also used when one is about to be banished. Someone from this particular family was banished not too long ago... Yugi I believe was her name." Kage grimaced, swallowing hard, but said nothing.

"Don't. Hurt. Him," Selphie said through gritted teeth, putting a protective hand on Kage's back. "That still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, specifically, what Divine Laws Kage has actually broken."

Shiori smirked. "Then sit down and shut up," she said extending her hand, "I don't normally give out punishments to mortals but you are trying my patience... girl." A wave of energy was emitted from Shiori's hand, heading straight for Selphie with enough force to throw her back a few feet.

"Oof!" Selphie exclaimed as she was pushed back, but refused to be knocked down. "A simple please would have sufficed," she retorted as she regained her balance. "I'm willing to listen, if you're willing to tell."

"Unless you wish to share his punishment, I'd advise you step away from him," Shiori said coldly, glaring at Selphie.

Kage turned his head slightly, looking to Selphie. "Please... back away..." he whispered, "The last thing I want is for you to suffer for my crimes..."

Shiori laughed softly. "How sentimental he is, when all this time I thought he hated anyone and everyone around him." Kage just glared at her, but said nothing.

Selphie shook her head solemnly. "I'm not leaving you alone to this," she whispered to him. "Anything you've done can't be so bad that you deserve this severe of reprimand. Granted, I don't know what it is you're actually accused of, but I'm not going to let you be unfairly treated."

Kage shook his head. "These chains are created by magic, and only those with the burden of a crime can feel their weight. The worse the crime, the stronger the chain. I can barely move... I've committed many crimes... I'm just afraid to find out how many..." Kage sighed.

Selphie shook her head as well. "I don't know what makes you think I'm going to leave you like this. I don't care what it takes. You're not talking me out of it..." Suddenly she realized, "What exactly is she planning on punishing you with? As you must remember, I'm from Termina and unfamiliar... with..." she trailed off.

Kage shook his head, turning his gaze to Shiori, who had opened her scroll. "Then accept the punishment together. It means nothing to me," she said coldly, glancing at them before shifting her gaze to the scroll. "Seiryu... You are hereby charged with these crimes... Directly interfering in the lives of mortals... Taking the life of an innocent being for no logical reason... Tampering with time... Taking on an unregistered form for personal reasons... Allowing said form to take on a life of its own... Attacking innocents for no reason on a regular basis... And lastly, interfering with the life of a deity who has chosen mortality." She closed her eyes, chanting softly. The hairs on the back of Kage's neck stood on end. This was it...

"No..." Selphie whispered, finally realizing what was happening. "Nuh-uh! This isn't happening! How can you... you do this?" her voice sounded frantic. She slipped her hand into Kage's and looked into his face. "Kage, don't give up! We're going to fix this... we're going to! We...!" She lowered her voice again. "Kage... Daisuki," she shook his hand a little. "We're going to..."

Kage didn't reply, biting his lip in silence. Shiori opened her eyes, glancing at the scroll.

"Your punishment... Eternal banishment!"

The chains on Kage's arms tightened, and chains appeared on his legs. The ground beneath him began to glow. Kage grimaced, breaking the chain on his left arm in an attempt to free himself. He pushed Selphie away, the chain reattached itself to him, and he vanished, leaving no trace of him ever being there.

"You're doing it again!"

Kage jolted to awakeness. "How can you sleep standing up?" Ravick asked.

"I wasn't sleeping," Kage answered calmly. "I was thinking with my eyes closed."

"You were practically snoring," Ravick said.

"I don't snore for you information," Kage said.

"I'll bet," Ravick replied sarcastically.

"Hey. You can even ask Selphie-!" Kage started, but it made him think of the girl again, so he turned away, closing his eyes sadly.

"Hello, dear brother." The voice came from a few meters away.

He kept his eyes closed. "Not Yugi and Jiji again," he whispered.

"You wish," said another voice.

"Guess again, bro," said a third.

Kage's eyes snapped open and he stared in horror at the sight in front of him. Standing ahead of him were not two women, not one sister, but three rather angry looking goddesses. "Now I'm screwed."

"Mind your language, little Kage," Din said saccharinely.

"Hi, Din!" Ravick greeted cheerfully. Din turned somewhat surprised to Ravick. Then she rolled her eyes and growled slightly. Kage had started to take this chance to run away but was suddenly caught in a bright blue crystal.

"Not so fast!" Nayru called as the goddesses started to approach him. "You've got some consequences to face, little bro."

"Why are you guys in on this?" Kage whined slightly. Then he thought of something.

"You gave up your divinity for this girl," Din said. "We're here to make sure it wasn't for nothing." She summoned two scimitars.

"You can't tell me what to do!" Kage griped. "Just because you're older!"

"Don't you dare!" Din's eyes flashed fire. "No! You are not a little kid anymore!"

"You're not the boss of me!" Kage retorted. "Farore! Make her stop! She at least has to listen to me first!"

"I don't have to listen to you at all! I'm the oldest, I'm in charge!" Din responded. "Now you listen to me-!"

"Nope," Kage said, closing his eyes and crossing his arms."

"You little-!" Din screamed and brandished one of the scimitars at him.

"Lalalalalalalala!" Kage sang loudly, covering his ears.

"You listen to me, you-!" Din shouted.

"I won't listen to any of you until you listen to me first!" Kage yelled.

"Too bead, because I'm not gonna!" Din shouted, crossing her arms and turning her cheek. Farore touched her arm.

"Din, maybe we should…"

"NO! Nonononononono! No! You're not defending him this time, Farore!" Din bellowed.

"But, Din, maybe he-."

"Lalalalalalalala!" Din covered her ears and copied Kage's tactic.

"Nayru," Farore said, turning to her sister. Nayru sighed and got rid of the crystal. Farore looked back at Kage. "So, you had something you wanted to tell us?"

"Nope," Kage answered and sprinted away, disappearing before they could do anything about it.

"Hey!" Farore and Nayru exclaimed.

"I knew that would happen!" Din shouted.

"Kage! Wait up!" Ravick called, taking off as well.

"MAGE!"


	7. Chapter 7

Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

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Chapter 7

Kage walked into the Temple of Time after having sprinted for his life across Hyrule Field and at least some of the way into the castle town. He walked toward the altar at the end, letting the ancient song wash over him. He looked at the altar and frowned, remembering the dream he'd had that morning. That hadn't been entirely conducive to the wedding.

He sighed, shaking his head. "Please don't tell me you're going to fall asleep again here," Ravick said, appearing behind him.

"I thought I asked you to leave me alone…" Kage said quietly.

"Eh, everyone does, but it never stopped me before," Ravick answered. Kage sighed and shook his head. "Besides, I was a little worried about you after that outburst back there in the field. Wanted to make sure you were okay."

Kage shook his head. "You realize you can't follow me out of Hyrule," he said.

"Out of Hyrule?" Ravick repeated. "You're leaving?"

"I kind of have to if I don't want them to kill me, don't I?" Kage posed.

"That or you can go back and marry Selphie," Ravick offered.

"I can't do that," Kage said.

"Why not?"

"…I just can't…"

"Kage," Ravick said as he walked forward a little. "If I know Selphie- and granted I don't know her as well as the rest of you do- she's not going to hold it against you."

"Ravick, there was a reason I left the wedding to begin with, if you'll remember," Kage said turning to face him.

"Yeah, yeah. Afraid you'll hurt her," Ravick said, waving his hand dismissively. "But you guys've been together for four years now. Don't you think if you were gonna hurt her, you would have by now?"

"…I don't know…" Kage said. He wanted to get off this track of conversation. He climbed up the steps and leaned against the altar's backside.

"Once again, he falls a…"

_Kage sat at the foot of the stairs in silence, listening to the conversation. He lowered his head, closing his eyes. '...Thanks everyone...' _

Selphie sat next to Kage and put her arms around his shoulders. "Kage..." "Daisuki... don't scare me like that again... I..." She looked around... there was a familiar presence in the room... "Oh..."

Suddenly a large... hole... appeared behind Yugi. It was bluish in color, bright towards the outside, gradually getting darker towards the center. Yugi stiffened. "What the...?" Suddenly, she was pulled into the hole, forcing poor Link to fall down. Kage turned his eyes widening as he watched his sister vanish into the portal.

Link caught himself with his hands and stared at the portal in shock, "Nuh uh!" He said angerly and dived headfirst into the portal, "I won't lose you again!"

"No!" Selphie called out leaping up off the floor and almost hitting Kage in the head with her arms- which were wrapped around him, if you'll remember. "It wasn't supposed to take them too!" She sprinted toward the portal but skidded to a halt as she remembered Kage. She felt like she'd just been stabbed through the stomach or something. "...I've gotta go..." she said apologetically, not even looking back at Kage before she stepped inside.

Kage cried out when Selphie stepped into the portal. It closed almost immediately after she left, and he pounded his fist against the floor, several times, each one making a loud sound that reverberated off the walls. When he finally stopped, his hand was bleeding. He stared at his hand. "... So this is what it comes to, then?" he said softly, "Now I have to stay here for one hundred years... Dammit... It's not fair..."

A red fireball appeared over the altar and burst, and sitting there was none other than Din.

"What exactly is going on? I felt a great distubance just now..." She looked around and noticed Darunia, and Kage, with a rather bloody hand, "What in the name of the Triforce has happened?" She demanded as she hopped lightly off the altar and rushed to her brother's side.

Kage would not look at Din. "Just leave me alone..." he muttered, his voice hoarse. He couldn't understand how he felt. He didn't like it. It hurt. He wanted it to go away. He didn't want to feel like this.

Darunia took a deep breath and shook his head. He hadn't been prepared for Selphie to leave either... he'd, of course, known about the time portal, but she'd made it out that she was going to miss it... "A gate through time opened, and now Link, Yugi, and Selphie are gone..."

Din placed a hand on his back, "Kage...I'm..." She didn't know what to say, but instead, she pulled her brother into a forced embrace.

Kage pulled away, keeping his head low. He didn't want them to see his pain. He didn't want them to see him cry. He just sat there in cold, painful silence, staring at his bloodstained hand.

Five days passed as Kage sat in the temple, alone. He had obviously begun to waste away. His hair was lank, his skin pale, and he looked like he hadn't eaten in five days. He didn't seem to care. No matter who came, he ignored them all, giving them nothing more than a vacant stare. He barely noticed as a portal appeared behind him, in the same place where the previous one had been.

A figure appeared in the portal. She stepped out, looked around, and almost immediately saw Kage on the floor. "Kage!" Selphie cried out as she, as quick as lightning, dashed over to him and had him in an altogether embrace for dear life. He wouldn't have even had time to see her before she had him in the hug. "Kage! Oh, goddesses, I missed you!"

Kage's eyes widened when Selphie latched herself on to him, but that was the only way he could react. He was too weak to move, mostly because he'd starved himself. After a minute or two, he smiled, closing his eyes. "I missed you, too, Selphie..."

Link was next to step out of the portal. He was back in his favorite green tunic and was missing his cap. His blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his head. He stood there, not looking anywhere but the portal itself, he seemed to be waiting.

Din was still in the temple, she had refused to leave her brother. She watched in awed silence as the figures stepped out of the portal.

Yugi stepped out of the portal, leading two smaller figures by the hand. Both of them were children, around four years of age. They looked just like younger versions of Link and Yugi, save for one detail: their eyes. The boy's left eye was a silvery grey color, the other blue. The girl seemed to be a mirror image of the boy, her right eye silver, her left blue. The boy clung to Yugi, staring uneasily at the people around him. "We're back," Yugi said softly, smiling to everybody. She looked to Din, and her smile widened. "Sister..."

The little girl with Yugi ran to Link and held up her arms, clearly wanting to be picked up. He grinned and scooped her up easily and turned to everyone, Link was clearly older than he was when he had dissapeared through the portal five days ago. He smoothed down the little girl's hair and winked at Darunia, "Hey guys, we're back." He tugged lightly on the little girl's pointed ear, "C'mon, say 'Hi', Mable."

The little girl pushed her father's hand away and waved at everyone, "Hi Mable!" Din saw all this and a look of pure confusion crossed her face, she looked like she wanted to laugh, cry, and scream in rage at the same time. She waved hald heartedly back at the little girl.

The boy pulled on Yugi's hand, and she picked him up. "Raven, are you going to say hi to everybody?" The boy shook his head, resting it on Yugi's shoulder. She laughed softly, stroking his hair. She looked at Kage, her smile fading. He'd been beating himself up over losing Selphie... it was visible... Very much so...

Darunia looked at Selphie clinging to Kage. From the look on his face it was clear he thought there was something different about her. Selphie finished her embrace and backed away from Kage, allowing all those who had not been with her in the time portal to see her. Selphie had grown up, for real this time, not the little trick Yami gave her. She was actually older, almost twenty-one in fact.

Kage turned to look at Selphie. He stared at her in silence. She had matured, that much was obvious. If he wasn't so emaciated, he would have had to pick his jaw up off the floor. She was gorgeous.

Selphie raised an eyebrow at the look on Kage's face, and then blushed realizing what must have been going through his mind. "We were gone for five years of our time," she explained.

Mable squirmed and Link set her back on the ground and she skipped over to Kage, "You're Uncle Kage...right? Auntie Selphie always talked about you and Uncle Daru."

Kage stared at Mable, unsure of what to do. He had never been a social person, and being around kids was not an easy thing for him. "Yes, I am..." he replied. He looked up at Selphie, then shifted his gaze back to the girl, although he remained silent.

"You might wanna say hi, Uncle Kage," Selphie grinned, elbowing him playfully in the arm. She knelt down to the same level as Mable. "Yes, Mable, this is your Uncle Kage, and that over there," she pointed at Darunia, "That's Uncle Daru."

Darunia blushed as much as a Goron can and stepped forward a little. "Hi," he said amiably and gave a slight wave to his "niece."

Some time later, Mable made her way back to her mommy. Yugi nodded, picking Mable up when the girl reached her. "Yes, I think it's time we all rested," she replied, "Especially Kage."

Kage smirked when he heard his name. "Alright alright..." he said, waving his hand slightly, "But first..." He grabbed Selphie, pulling her closer to him. He kissed her gently on the lips, and smiled. "Welcome back."

Selphie was caught completely offguard. She blinked a couple times. When the initial shock wore off, she smiled back at him. "That's a pretty nice welcome back gift," she said. Then she kissed him back.

Kage smiled, wrapping one arm around her shoulder. "Daisuki..." he said softly.

"Daisuki," she answered.

Ravick's shadow flickered and came to life. "Okay, Shadow. Go tell them," Ravick instructed it. The shadow then took its exit from the temple. It hurried through the market and into the field.

"How did you guys let him get away!" Link shouted.

"Don't take that tone of voice with _me_, hero!" Din snapped. "If you wanna blame anyone, blame Farore. _She's_ the on that made Nayru let him out of the crystal."

"How was I supposed to know he was gonna run?" Farore defended.

"Maybe because he always runs! He always got you to get him out of trouble! I hoped that once we grew up it would cease, but no! You can't learn a lesson!"

"Lay the hell off!"

"At any rate!" Yugi shouted, breaking up the argument. "We now need to find him yet again!"

"Where could he be this time?" Iggy asked.

"Temple of Time!" the shadow called as it reached the group.

"Bout friggin' time!" Jiji spat.

"Hey, he had to wait till the kid was asleep," Ravick's shadow explained. "Otherwise he would've just run off again."

"I don't care!" Darunia hollered. "I just want to find him and finally snap his spine in two!" He curled into a ball and once again rolled off toward Kage's latest hideout.

"You better SAVE some for me!" Din barked, disappearing with a pop, Farore and Nayru copying the action.

"Wait up!" the rest of the group cried indignantly, also running off.

Back in the temple, Kage quavered a little, a sob escaping his lips and tears leaking from his eyes. He looked up remembering something: exactly how he felt when she stepped through that time portal. That had been the most overwhelming grief he'd ever felt in his life- and he had lived a long time. "_I can't do that to her…!_" he thought. He closed his eyes again, lowering his head. "_If ever I was to cause her hurt, it would be not saying goodbye… and at least giving her a reason… she deserves that much…_"

He stood up, and started to turn. "Going somewhere?" Ravick asked him before he could turn completely.

"Yes," Kage said resolvedly. "I am… going… oh, that's not right!" He had turned all the way around and found himself face to face with Din, Nayru, Farore, Darunia, Link, Yugi, Iggy, Jiji, and last, but not least, Ravick. They started slightly at the tears on his face, but didn't allow it to faze them. "How did you guys find me this time!"

"Heh heh," Ravick's shadow appeared once more. Kage stared at it, eyes widening in rage. "Sorry, my alliances were elsewhere," Ravick explained, smirking.

"Ravick, you bastard!" Kage shouted, doing the most serious considering he'd done on the issue of whether of not to kill the mage. At the same time, he was thinking, "_How the HELL did I let RAVICK get the better of me?_"

"Don't insult him," Jiji said. "Ravick was a great help to us. The only bad part was that by the time his messages got to us, you were gone or leaving before we could do anything about it."

"Luckily, he always stayed with you," Iggy added.

"I really will kill you this time, mage. I swear to Triforce I will!" Kage threatened Ravick.

"You're not in a really great position to be threatening people, Kage," Farore pointed out. "And don't think I'm gonna help you outta this one, because that was over after that last stunt you pulled." It was at that point that any and all weapons that the hunters had on their persons were pulled out.

"Oh, man, am I in trouble," Kage mumbled to himself. "How do I get out of this?" He started to back himself up against the wall, trying to put some distance between himself and the people that would have him dead, but they all pressed in on him. He looked around for a way out. "_There's no way I could make a run for it. I'm still kind of pooped from the last one. My sisters would catch me before I could disappear. If I could distract them long enough though… but how?_"

"Any last words, little brother?" Din asked as she took a few steps forward with her flaming scimitars.

Kage's eyes lit up, and he looked at her rather slyly. "Yes, as a matter of fact," he answered furtively. "I have four last words."

"And they would be?" Din asked.

"Ravick thinks you're hot."

"WHAT?" Din shouted, rounding on the mage, who now looked even more fearful for his life than usual. Kage took the moment's distraction he'd caused and started to disappear.

"NO!" shouted Darunia, Jiji, Yugi, and Iggy. At the same time, Darunia hurled his fireballs, Jiji released a fire arrow, and Iggy dove at him. But Kage was gone before any could make contact, and so the arrows and fireballs missed while Iggy flew into the wall, smashing headfirst into the marble. "Ow…"

"No!" Din exclaimed, enraged that she'd been tricked. "Kage! You're going down! One way or another! You're going down!" she shook her fist at nothing.

"We really need to find him now," Yugi said. "After seeing all of us together, he's not sticking around anymore."

"But now we have no idea where he would go," Link said.

"Where should we look first?" Nayru asked.

"A doctor?" Iggy asked pleadingly, clutching his very agonizing head. Jiji kneeled next to him.

"He's already been to the forest, the mountain, the field, and this temple," Darunia listed off. "Where else would he go?"

"Wait a second…" Jiji said suddenly. "How bout where _wouldn't_ he go?"

The rest stared at her. "What?" everyone asked.

"Perhaps we should be looking at this a different way," Jiji said. "Like you said, he went to the forest. But you also said that would be too obvious of a place. I think his hope was that we would think he'd think it was too obvious and therefore knock if off our list because he's too smart to go to the obvious places. And the mountain: that's got to be the most unsafe place for him to run considering Darunia is head of the Goron race that inhabits that mountain. He again wanted us to give him more credit than to walk into a suicide trap. The field, well, he didn't have a choice there, but here could also be considered incredibly obvious. It's called..." she thought about it for a moment. "Reverse psychology...?"

They all stared at her for a moment. "Okay, somewhere in that psycho babble I got that we should look in places he thinks we'd think were too stupid for him to go," Yugi said.

"Which means, he'd probably be hiding in the most suicidal place in Hyrule," Link said.

"Well, second most, considering right here would be the most right now," Ravick corrected. A couple of them looked around suspiciously.

"So where- besides here- would be the most suicidal place in Hyrule for him right now?" Farore asked.

"The lake?" Iggy asked. They all looked at each other.

"No, he couldn't possibly be _that_ insane," Link said.

"That's exactly what he'd want us to think," Jiji said. Their eyes widened and they all took off in their various ways to the lake- except Darunia who stood there for a moment confusedly scratching his head.

"I still don't it…?" he said. Then Link and Iggy ran back into the temple, grabbed the Goron and pulled him out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Darunia: Disclaimer! Selphie Louise does not own the Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. They are the property of Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo.

Tingle: The characters she does own are Selphie, Iggy, and Jiji. The characters of Kage, Yugi, Mable, and Raven belong to Kearra. The character Ravick is the property of Selphie's friend, Patrick.

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Chapter 8

Selphie, Raven and Mable were still out on the island. The sun was starting to set. Mable and Raven had given up trying to comfort Selphie a while ago, and she was sitting against the tree, still sobbing. "Do you think Uncle Kage's coming back?" Mable asked from where she was sitting by the lake's edge.

"I don't know," Raven answered as he bent down and picked up a smooth, flat stone. "I wish he hadn't left. I don't like seeing Aunt Selphie so sad." At his last statement he threw the stone across the lake, making it skip over the water.

Suddenly Kage appeared on the warp platform. He took two steps in the direction of the bridge with the intention of finding the kids and Selphie at the house. Then he stopped short and looked over to the edge of the island, realizing he wasn't alone. "Raven? Mable?" he said turning to look at them.

"Uncle Kage!" Mable exclaimed when she saw him. She leapt up off the ground and ran over to him. He scooped her up and held her.

"what are you two still doing here?" Kage asked as Raven walked over and stood next to him. "Shouldn't you have gone back to the house by now?"

"We would have, but Mommy said to keep an eye on Aunt Selphie," Raven answered.

"Selphie?" Kage repeated, looking around nervously. "Is she here too?" Mable nodded her head and pointed over to the tree, where Selphie was oblivious to the scene on the other side of the island. "_Oh, no. I wasn't expecting her to be right here! I was hoping I'd have time to think about what I was going to say while I walked to the house! Now I'm unprepared. Should I leave and come back again…? No, the others would find me again for sure._"

"Aunt Selphie missed you, Uncle Kage," Mable said. "She was crying and everything."

Kage nodded and lowered his head so that his hair hid his face. "_That makes me feel better, that I made her cry… I remember how I cried when she went through the time gate, how I felt when I thought I'd never see her again…_" He looked up suddenly, realizing something. "_I was devastated last time I lost her. Wouldn't running away mean losing her again…? I'd never get to see her again… or her, me…_"

He looked over at Selphie. He still loved her, no matter what. That's why he left her to begin with: he loved her so much he didn't want to see her hurt. But leaving would probably hurt her a lot more… not to mention him. He watched her longingly.

"Uncle Kage?" Mable's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Hmm?" Kage looked down at the little girl.

"Why did you leave? Don't you love Aunt Selphie anymore?" she asked.

Kage smiled at her innocence. "Of course I still love her. Very, very much in fact," he answered.

Raven's eyes lit up and he ran over to the tree, where he picked something up and ran back over to Kage. Kage looked at the boy curiously, but smiled when Raven held up the pillow with the rings on it. He set Mable down and bent down to eye level with Raven. "Does that mean you still want to marry her?" the little boy asked.

Kage took one of the rings and smiled. "Yes, I still want to marry her," he said standing. A few seconds later he was kneeling over Selphie. She jumped slightly when she realized he was there.

"Kage…?" she said, looking up confusedly through the veil that she was still wearing. She reached underneath and wiped her face a bit.

"I would like to marry her… if she'll still have me…" Kage said, holding up her ring to her. She watched him confusedly for a moment, then looked down at the ring. Then she looked away and started sobbing again. She leaned in on his shoulder and made his kimono wet in that spot. Mable and Raven watched in silence.

Kage stood himself and Selphie up. Then he looked into her eyes and reached up to the veil. He pulled it back from her face and smiled at her. "Wow was I an idiot for leaving… You make a very beautiful bride," he said. "Only one thing mars the sight…" He reached up to her face and wiped away the tears trickling down her cheek. When he took his hand away, he smiled and said, "That's better."

Selphie looked up at him with an unreadable expression for a moment. Then, without warning, her arms were around his neck. Kage put his arms around her waist, returning the embrace. "I'll still have you…" she whispered in his ear. He rubbed her back gently. When they pulled away from each other, Raven was standing next to them with the other ring. Selphie reached down and picked up the other ring. They walked over to the warp platform where they would have performed the nuptials.

"Shall we exchange our vows?" Kage asked when they'd climbed onto the dais.

"Do we really need to?" Selphie asked him, looking into his eyes. "Vows are not needed for those who trust one another, are they? Do you need to make a promise to enforce your word or can we not trust each other without them?" she said.

He raised his eyebrow and half smirked at her. "Where did you hear a line like that?" he asked.

"I read a lot," she smiled. "But you have to admit-."

"It is very true," Kage conceded. "All right, then. This will do." He took her left hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. Then she took his hand and slipped the other ring on his finger.

"Tee hee!" Mable giggled, throwing flowers at them. "You may now kiss the bride!" The couple smiled down at Mable. Then Kage took Selphie's face in his hands and moved it to his own. Selphie wrapped her arms around his waist as they kissed, long and lovingly. Mable tittered nearby and Raven looked pretty happy.

"Well, I'll be…" Farore said, smiling as she watched the scene across the lake. She and her sisters were across the lake in front of Link and Yugi's house, the place they figured they'd find Kage.

"She's still marrying him?" Nayru asked disbelievingly, but smiling nonetheless. "Even after he ran out on her?"

"Did he at least say he was sorry?" Din asked, almost agitatedly, but definitely trying to hide a smile.

"Have you ever heard the saying, 'Love is never having to say you're sorry?'" Farore asked, turning to her sister. "I think Selphie has allowed them to demonstrate that principle quite clearly."

Meanwhile, the sun had finally set, and Selphie and Kage had finished their kiss and were now standing there hugging each other. Kage had his back to the bridge, and from behind him, one would never have known he was hugging Selphie. "Now I gotcha!" Darunia had appeared behind Kage and lifted him up by the back of his kimono practically strangling him.

"What the hell!" Kage managed to gasp out, grabbing for the collar.

"Jiji, that was brilliant!" Ravick said as he made it across the bridge as well.

"Now let's get him!" Iggy said.

"Guys, don't!" Kage protested, struggling to free himself from Darunia. "I'm done running!"

"Mommy! Daddy!" Mable exclaimed as she and Raven ran over to their parents. "You missed it!"

"Missed what?" Yugi asked.

"Aunt Selphie and Uncle Kage getting married!" Raven piped up. The two children smiled at Uncle Kage until they realized that Darunia had him by the shirt. "Uh, what's Uncle Daru doing to Uncle Kage?"

"He's making sure Uncle Kage can't run away," Link answered.

"But I told you! I'm not gonna run away anymore!" Kage implored.

"Y'know, that's a damn shame, because without running there's no way you can get out of this one," Jiji said.

"Number one: watch your language around the kids, Jiji," Selphie said. Everyone jumped as they noticed her there for the first time. "Number two: if you guys make me a widow before I've even been married a whole day, heads will roll, and I by heads I do mean yours."

"You've forgiven him that easy!" Darunia exclaimed.

"Shut it, Darunia. Remember you're standing on an island in the middle of a lake," Selphie reminded him. She stared them all down for a moment and then turned specifically to Darunia. "Now put my husband down before you garrote him."

"What do you mean husband?" Darunia asked, eyes widening and dropping Kage roughly to the ground.

"We got married right before you guys got here!" Kage explained.

"I don't believe it!" Darunia said. In response, the new couple each held up their left hand, revealing the recently exchanged rings. Darunia grabbed Kage's wrist and pulled it closer to get a better look. "It's true!"

The others gathered around and looked at the rings until Kage finally said, "Ah! That would be my wrist Darunia!" Darunia quickly let go.

"So you guys tied the knot?" Yugi asked incredulously.

"Yes," Selphie answered exasperatedly as Kage rejoined her side.

The others stared at them for a moment in amazement for a moment before Link's face split into a smile, "Without us here!" Kage and Selphie beamed.

"'Twas your own fault. If you hadn't been off chasing Kage around Hyrule, you would have been here when he got back and married me," Selphie grinned at all of her friends finally smiling again.

"Gosh! That means only Raven and Mable got to see it!" Ravick griped playfully.

"Guess again, mage!" The goddesses were flying across the water toward them. "We happened to see the whole thing," Farore said, smiling down at her new sister-in-law.

"We didn't even know you were here!" Kage said. "Where were you?"

"Oh, we were looking for you, just in the wrong place," Din said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder back toward the house.

"Quite fortunately because that mistake is probably what bought you enough time to actually get the job done," Nayru added.

"If not Selphie probably wouldn't have had the time to make an honest man out of Kage," Farore winked at her.

"Is that to say I wasn't honest before?" Kage half smirked. Selphie opened her mouth to respond, but Kage cut her off, "You stay quiet!"

"Make me!" she said slyly. He pulled her closer and kissed her. That most certainly kept her quiet. The other two couples giggled and followed suit for the heck of it. The remainder of those present either rolled their eyes or laughed silently.

"So, do you think it's time for the reception?" Ravick asked.

"The what?" Selphie and Kage asked, genuinely confused.

"Oops…" Ravick said.

"Good job, Ravick! That was supposed to be a surprise!" Jiji said.

"Oh, that's sweet you guys," Selphie said.

"I say we go ahead and have the party anyway," Link proclaimed, turning around and starting across the bridge.

"Sounds good to me," Darunia added, picking up the two children and setting them on his shoulders. Everyone else followed as well, except for the goddesses who went back to… well, wherever it is they are when they're not bugging their family.

Back at Link and Yugi's house, the group of friends made merry and celebrated the wedding. At one point Darunia and Ravick walked into the living room, where everyone was, carrying a large case. "What's that?" Iggy asked.

"Special import from Termina!" Ravick grinned.

"Just for the wedding!" Darunia added, opening the crate and revealing several bottles of-.

"NO!" Selphie, Kage, Link, and Yugi all shouted when they saw the Chateau Romani within. (a/n: See _Legend of Zelda: Children of the Gods_; Chapter 14, by Kearra)

When the evening had finally wound down- about two in the morning, as it were- Kage and Selphie left Link and Yugi's house to head back to the forest for one evening before their honeymoon.

"So, we're married now," Kage said as they entered their neck of the forest. "Is anything going to change other than the rings and the titles?"

"Not tonight," Selphie answered, yawning as they approached the door to their house. She gave a small yelp as Kage scooped her up in his arms.

"Not tonight?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow playfully. "Does that mean something will change but not till another night?"

"Maybe," Selphie grinned mischievously at him. Kage kissed her as he carried across the threshold and closed the door behind them. He would then carry her upstairs to their bedroom and spend their first night as husband and wife.

Happy end

LOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZLOZ

Okay, sothat's Tying the Knot. How'd ya like? I hope it wasn't too confusing. Soon to be posted is the sequel: Making it Happen. Look out for it. R&R, KIT & KIR.

Goddesses, Daru, and Tingle: Bai-bai!


End file.
